Besson tuba

[Barrie48]

hi everyone. Im new here. I'm wondering if anyone has any information on a besson class A prototype tuba, 50 medals of honour. It also has 37 VR 97 on the bell, which I believe means it was made in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. Does anyone know how much it's worth?
Many thanks
Sean

[davewerden]

Welcome to the forum!

I don't know if anyone here would have a good idea of its value, but we have a pretty diverse crew, so maybe! In the meantime, I suggest you connect to Charley Brighton (UK) on Facebook. He is kinda the master resource for ancient Besson and B&H. He's a euphonium player, but does repair/maintenance work on all brass:

https://www.facebook.com/charley.brighton

[daruby]

Sean, post a pic and find the serial number. I do not think the 37 VR 97 is a serial number. The "50 medals of honor" logos were around for quite some time. As to value, it is hard to say.

[bbocaner]

Yeah, I saw a euphonium engraved like this in the Horniman museum in London, where they have the collection of instruments they inherited when the Besson factory shut down. 37 VR 97 is for the sixty year diamond jubilee of queen victoria's reign. 1837 to 1897. So it would have been made after 1897, but if I remember correctly they made this special engraving not just in 1897 but for several years after. I don't know that it's super rare, but it's pretty neat. Unfortunately, these late victorian instruments aren't super desirable to collectors just because they aren't super hard to find. And there aren't so many that trade hands that you can get a good My guess on the value would be highly dependent on the condition. If the engraving is really fancy and the condition is excellent, I could see it being worth $1500 or so. If the condition is poor, it might be as little as $100 and you might struggle to find a buyer even at that.